The disclosure relates to systems for storing, transporting and managing pallets of goods and more particularly, to a storage bay that can be accessed by a dual-fork forklift, which can lift and transport two pallets of goods at a time.
Storage systems are used in warehouses, department stores, cold storage areas and other storage facilities to store containers of goods. Certain storage systems employ extensive storage rack systems, often called deep rack storage, to store large amounts of a variety of different products. Some of these systems have columns formed of rows of storage bays stacked on top of each other, with two to seven or higher levels and no aisles between columns of storage bays.
Due to the density of the storage area and the limited sight lines and access, it can be time consuming and present logistical problems to maintain accurate inventory records of the goods remaining in storage on the racks. It can also be inconvenient to access goods in the middle of a rack, which is not accessible to a forklift. Some conventional storage systems employ automated mobile data collection and pallet transportation carts that travel under the pallets in storage racks and record inventory information as well as transport pallets within the row. These pallet carts can travel on rail systems located under the pallet storage racks. The bays can be 250 feet long, or longer. Thus, to bring a pallet from one end of the bay to the other, or from a central portion of the bay to an end, an automatically raiseable platform on the cart is used to lift the pallet and transport it to the desired location in the bay.
A conventional multi-level, multi-column rack storage system with no aisles between many of the columns of storage rows of is shown generally in FIG. 1 as a rack storage system 100. Rack storage system 100 includes an array of vertical supports 110, which support horizontal beams 115, to provide structural support. Storage system 100 also includes an array of support rails 120. Rails 120 include a pallet support surface 121, on which a plurality of pallets 130, with a variety of goods 131 are supported.
As indicated above, modern storage systems commonly employ a plurality of robotic pallet transportation carts 140, for both transporting pallets throughout storage system 100 and optionally for collecting inventory information. Pallet transportation cart 140 includes a raiseable surface 160, which can be raised up until it contacts and lifts the bottom of pallet 130. Cart 140 also includes four automatically driven wheels 170. Wheels 170 travel on a cart transportation surface 125 of rail 120. Thus, rails 120 extend into a pallet storage bay 180 and permit carts 140 to travel under pallets 130 along the entire length of each bay 180.
Pallet storage bay 180 is one pallet wide. It is designed to be accessed by a conventional forklift, with a single fork for lifting and transporting a single pallet. However, modern storage facilities have begun to use the dual pallet forklifts. A dual pallet forklift 200 with a double fork 250 is shown generally in FIG. 2. As evident from FIG. 2, double fork 250 is designed to lift and transport two pallets at the same time. However, conventional pallet storage rack systems with pallet transportation carts traveling under the racks of pallets are not sufficiently compatible with dual pallet forklifts. It can be difficult, particularly when a storage bay is three, four or five rows high, to conveniently load or unload two pallets at a time, into a conventionally designed bay. Accordingly, it can be necessary to use a dual fork forklift to transport the pallets around the facility, but to load and unload the pallets onto the rack one pallet at a time.
Accordingly, an improved system for storing and transporting pallets of goods that overcomes drawbacks of the prior art is desirable.